Opto-electronic devices that make use of organic materials are becoming increasingly desirable for a number of reasons. Many of the materials used to make such devices are relatively inexpensive, so organic opto-electronic devices have the potential for cost advantages over inorganic devices. In addition, the inherent properties of organic materials, such as their flexibility, may make them well suited for particular applications such as fabrication on a flexible substrate. Examples of organic opto-electronic devices include organic light emitting devices, organic phototransistors, organic photovoltaic cells, and organic photodetectors. For OLEDs, the organic materials may have performance advantages over conventional materials. For example, the wavelength at which an organic emissive layer emits light may generally be readily tuned with appropriate dopants.
As used herein, the term “organic” includes polymeric materials as well as small molecule organic materials that may be used to fabricate organic opto-electronic devices. “Small molecule” refers to any organic material that is not a polymer, and “small molecules” may actually be quite large. Small molecules may include repeat units in some circumstances. For example, using a long chain alkyl group as a substituent does not remove a molecule from the “small molecule” class. Small molecules may also be incorporated into polymers, for example as a pendent group on a polymer backbone or as a part of the backbone. Small molecules may also serve as the core moiety of a dendrimer, which consists of a series of chemical shells built on the core moiety. The core moiety of a dendrimer may be a fluorescent or phosphorescent small molecule emitter. A dendrimer may be a “small molecule,” and it is believed that all dendrimers currently used in the field of OLEDs are small molecules.
OLEDs make use of thin organic films that emit light when voltage is applied across the device. OLEDs are becoming an increasingly interesting technology for use in applications such as flat panel displays, illumination, and backlighting. Several OLED materials and configurations are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,844,363, 6,303,238, and 5,707,745, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
OLED devices are generally (but not always) intended to emit light through at least one of the electrodes, and one or more transparent electrodes may be useful in an organic opto-electronic device. For example, a transparent electrode material, such as indium tin oxide (ITO), may be used as the bottom electrode. A transparent top electrode, such used in a top-emitting device, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,703,436, 5,707,745 and 6,548,956, which are incorporated by reference in their entireties, may also be used. For a device intended to emit light only through the bottom electrode, the top electrode does not need to be transparent, and may be comprised of a thick and reflective metal layer having a high electrical conductivity. Similarly, for a device intended to emit light only through the top electrode, the bottom electrode may be opaque and/or reflective. Where an electrode does not need to be transparent, using a thicker layer may provide better conductivity, and using a reflective electrode may increase the amount of light emitted through the other electrode, by reflecting light back towards the transparent electrode. Fully transparent devices may also be fabricated, where both electrodes are transparent. Side emitting OLEDs may also be fabricated, and one or both electrodes may be opaque or reflective in such devices.
As used herein, “top” means furthest away from the substrate, while “bottom” means closest to the substrate. For example, for a device having two electrodes, the bottom electrode is the electrode closest to the substrate, and is generally the first electrode fabricated. The bottom electrode has two surfaces, a bottom surface closest to the substrate, and a top surface further away from the substrate. Where a first layer is described as “disposed over” a second layer, the first layer is disposed further away from substrate. There may be other layers between the first and second layer, unless it is specified that the first layer is “in physical contact with” the second layer. For example, a cathode may be described as “disposed over” an anode, even though there are various organic layers in between.
The quality of white illumination sources can be fully described by a simple set of parameters. The color of the light source is given by its CIE chromaticity coordinates x and y (1931 2-degree standard observer CIE chromaticity). The CIE coordinates are typically represented on a two-dimensional plot. Monochromatic colors fall on the perimeter of the horseshoe shaped curve starting with blue in the lower left, running through the colors of the spectrum in a clockwise direction to red in the lower right. The CIE coordinates of a light source of given energy and spectral shape will fall within the area of the curve. Summing light at all wavelengths uniformly gives the white or neutral point, found at the center of the diagram (CIE x,y-coordinates, 0.33, 0.33). Mixing light from two or more sources gives light whose color is represented by the intensity weighted average of the CIE coordinates of the independent sources. Thus, mixing light from two or more sources can be used to generate white light.
When considering the use of these white light sources for illumination, the CIE color rendering index (CRI) may be considered in addition to the CIE coordinates of the source. The CRI gives an indication of how well the light source will render colors of objects it illuminates. A perfect match of a given source to the standard illuminant gives a CRI of 100. Though a CRI value of at least 70 may be acceptable for certain applications, a preferred white light source may have a CRI of about 80 or higher.
The approach used to generate white OLEDs described previously typically involves separating different emissive dopants (typically three different emitters are doped into individual layers). In this approach, the individual dopants are segregated into separate layers, wherein the host material for each layer is the same. Kido, J. et. al. Science, 267, 1332–1334 (1995). The design of such a device can be complicated, since careful control of the thickness and composition of each layer is critical for achieving good color balance. Additionally, these devices suffered from lower efficiency and low color stability as a function of current drive. As the current density is increased, the zone of electron-hole recombination can shift. This results in a device having an emission that changes as a function of drive current. Thus, for example, white emitting devices prepared according to this approach may appear as a balanced white emitting only at a narrow range of drive currents.